"NO MUSSOLINI."

Auckland Star, Volume LXVII, Issue 236, 5 October 1936, Page 9

"NO MUSSOLINI."

TRANSPORT WORLD. GOVERNMENT'S ATTITUDE. ACQUIRING ROAD SERVICES. ' The impression that the Government was "out to be the Mussolini of the transport world" was a mistaken one, said the general manager of New Zealand Railways, Mr. G. 11. Mackley, giving a review of the railway system at the annual reunion of the Auckland branch of the Railway Officers' Institute 011 Saturday night. The meeting was held in the Newmarket social hall. Unless a convincing case as to the merit of acquiring a road service was submitted, that service would not be taken over, the manager continued. Every one of the services taken over had been acquired on excellent terms and would make money. As the result of co-ordination £3000 was being saved annually on one branch. Mr. Mackley expressed his entire confidence in the railways as a means of transport. They wei-e not things of the past, and they would continue to be the main artery of transport in every country in the world for years. In fact, they would never be superseded. New Zealand owed more to its railways than to anything else, and certainly no country had made more use of them in its development. Their value could not be assessed from the monetary return alone. The future was bright for the railways, and the Government, appreciating their social aspect, would give the maximum service to the people. He referred to the developments in the different Departments of the railways since 1911, but he regretted that passengers carried had fallen oil' by a very large figure, and goods tonnage had shown only a small increase. "It is our jol> to remedy the position," lie added, "and this will be done." The service at the present time was better than it had ever been, and in some respects New ZealantJ was definitely leading the railway world. He mentioned new branches that had been established, and new services, such as the house-to-house removal system. The "Railways Magazine" was, he believed, the best of its kind in the world, while inquiries about the travel-saving stamp system had been received from overseas countries.